How You've Trapped Me
by Kratz
Summary: Link lands on the surface to find Zelda. While traversing Skyview temple, he encounters a strange enemy named Ghirahim. Link continually encounters Ghirahim on his quest to save Zelda and almost always comes out badly injured. But why does Ghirahim not kill Link? First summary, hope it catches you're attention. Ghiralink. Sorry, but updates will not be regular since I have classes.
1. Chapter 1

Ah, so before you read, I feel it important for you to know…..this is my first fanfic. Ever. So please put up with me and don't hold back on _constructive_ criticism. Also, I find the hardest part of writing any story is starting it, so if the starting is, ah, lackluster, then forgive me ;A;

Also, there may be some OOC. Unintentional, but it may be there. Oh, and I'll post appropriate warnings at the beginning of each chapter, but the story overall will have yaoi (male on male lovin'), violence, and probably non/dub con.

P.S. I don't own Zelda, Nintendo does.

Chapter 1

"Hehehe, come on Link, how does the cake taste?" I hear Zelda ask. I was currently chewing on this delicious anchor before she presented me with a chocolate pudding and pineapple cake. For the life of me, I can't think of why I would be eating either, one obviously something inedible by people, and the other just plain….gross. But I throw my face down into the cake and begin eating it as if it was the most natural thing to do, despite the strangeness of the whole situation. While eating, I take in my surroundings and, although acknowledging my environment, nothing really stuck, as if nothing was really there. Even Zelda seemed to be almost not _there_, even though she was clearly in the room and now providing me with a grass tart after I had finished my unexpectedly good cake.

I look at Zelda while she hands me yet another strange food item. "So what's the occasion Zel? Is today the day the Loft wings finally decided to turn into marshmallows?" The content of the question was utterly absurd, yet it seemed like a perfectly plausible thing to ask, strangely.

"SQUAWK"

"Come on Zelda, don't say that" It didn't come off as strange that she squawked at me, I mean, she's always had the head of a Loft wing, so her squawking wasn't really so strange.

The room suddenly got much, much darker. 'Huh? Why is it so dark?' "Zelda!" I shout into the darkness, but only the echo of my voice responds. I start to feel an intense anxiety grip me, as if a menacing beast had me in its claws, ready to tear me to shreds. The darkness dies a bit, revealing the scene of trees. 'Wow, I've never seen so many trees!' I observed in spite of the tightening sense of dread engulfing me. 'What's that?' I notice a crack in the ground under the thicket of trees. 'It looks as if something is trying to come up from under it…' Then a terrifying sight greets me. A sinister looking…._thing. _I don't know how to describe it other than as a scale-covered blackness with teeth.

Just when it appears, it disappears. "What? Where did it go? OH! Zelda, there you are, do you know what that thing was? …Zelda?" I see Zelda in front of me, floating above the sea of trees as I am. "SQUAWK…..AAAAWK" 'Huh, now you're not making any sense Zel' I think to myself. I notice that the area has gotten brighter, like a light is being shone on my closed eyes. 'Wait…closed?' I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is my ceiling. The second thing I notice is a blue bird's giant head sticking through my now open window above my head, letting the accursed rays of light from the sun to enter, and if waking me from my slumber wasn't enough, the thing spits something at my head and leaves before I was awake enough to give it a piece of my mind.

I sit up in my bed and absently look around my room. 'So, it was a dream, huh? Weird…' I usually don't remember my dreams, and the ones I do remember are fairly normal. Well, they aren't really bad dreams at least. I shudder as I remember that intense dread I felt in the last part of the dream. I don't remember ever feeling such _real_ emotion from any of my dreams. I can still feel the coldness of that monster's menacing presence. I decide to forget about that nightmare. 'Best not to dwell on it, I'll just freak myself out…" I look at the object that Zelda's Loft wing hit me with. It's an envelope, fancifully decorated with gold embroidery and sealed with wax. 'So old-fashioned' I think. I find it charming though. I open the letter, the wax seal making it easing to open, as opposed to those that have adhesive along the flap. I almost always have to tear those thing apart before I can open them. I remove a piece of paper that had been folded perfectly in even thirds from the envelope, unfold it, and begin to read.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I know how much you like to sleep in, so I'm guessing this letter will be your alarm clock this morning." 'Yeah, you caused me to have a strange dream Zel' I think to myself as I continue reading. It goes on to talk about how today is the Wing Ceremony, and that I promised to meet her before it started. 'Oh man! I gotta hurry if I don't want Zelda to yell at me again!' I hastily get dressed out of my nightwear into my Skyloftian clothes and rush off to Zelda. As I exit my room, I notice Pipit. I would have passed him on by, except I don't think Zel actually mentioned where she would be in her letter, so I decide to stop and ask him if he knew where she was. "Hey, Pipit, do you know where Zel is? I was supposed to meet her before the ceremony, but I she didn't say where to meet." This, for me, was a mouthful. I usually don't talk much. I usually can't really find the motivation to communicate vocally if I can use gestures. Zelda says it's because I'm so lazy, and honestly, I can agree with her.

Pipit turns to face me, his face radiating friendliness and all around pleasantness. The yellow of his knight outfit suits him completely, even if the hat does look ridiculous. He answers with a cheery "OH! Hi Link! Uh, I think I heard Zelda telling her Headmaster Gaepora that she was going to greet you at the goddess statue. I also noticed what she was wearing and, I gotta say Link, your obliviousness kinda hurts my soul sometimes." I look at Pipit with a confused expression—'I'm oblivious?'—and in favor of getting to Zelda before she gets tired of waiting, I decide to ask him about it later. I give Pipit a short thanks and speed to the doors that led outside and notice Fledge trying to lift some barrels. And curse my helpful nature, I approach him. Thankfully, before I could ask what he was doing, he explained to me that he needed to get the barrels to the kitchen and, as quickly as I could, I help him.

After much gratitude from Fledge, I am finally on my way to the goddess statue. 'So many distractions this morning. First Fledge, and then Professor Horwell has me get a remlit from the academy's roof.' I make my trek up the bridge that leads to the small island with the statue. 'Finally, and there's Zel-' I stop myself mid thought as I look at Zelda. She's wearing a very pretty pink dress and it's so…pretty. 'Whaaa! Link, no! What are you thinking? Get a grip man!' But the shock of seeing her wearing something so….girly was just too much. She has always been a tomboy and rarely ever wore anything other than the school uniform.

"Link! Good morning sleepyhead." She looks at me with such a happy expression. It's so refreshing, and with that dress, it makes her look so lovely. But I would never tell her that.

"So? What do you think?" She makes a pose to show off her outfit and it's just so uncharacteristically cute of her. "Pfft….nice costume." I tease and amusedly watch her pout at the response. I can't tell her what I actually think. 'That would be awkward….' She lightly punches my arm and scolds me for being 'insensitive' and how I should always compliment a girl's clothes, even if I think otherwise. She then goes on about how I should be practicing for the ceremony and such, but I only pay a little attention to it. Her father appeared at one point, talking about mine and my Loft wing's connection as I look up at the sky. 'Hm….something's not right….'

"Come on, we need to get some last minute practice before the ceremony." Zelda pulls me out of my musings and quickly brings me over to the diving platform. She makes to push me off, but I tell her that I don't sense my Loft wing. "Stop making excuses Link." She laughs/scolds as she pushes me off the edge.

Despite not being able to feel the presence of Pride, which is my Loft wing's name, I call for him anyway because, ya know, drowning and grasping for straws and all that. To my horror and not-surprise, I do not hear the familiar screech of my Loft wing, nor do I see even a flash of his vibrant red feathers. I scream in fear that I'm going to fall into the nothingness that is below the cloud barrier and vaguely acknowledge Zelda calling for her bird. Thankfully, Zelda and Spring—her Loft wing—caught me midway between the island and the clouds. I didn't register this, however, until we were safely on the solid ground of our floating island. We all pant as the adrenaline leaves our bodies.

"Oh no, Spring's hurt! She sprained her wing…I wonder why Pride didn't come when you called Link. Loft wings always come when there partners whistle for them." Zelda's voice brings me out of my relief as I begin to worry about my partner. "I don't know, I told you I couldn't sense him." 'This is bad, I hope he's all right.' I worriedly think of all the things that could have happened to him, but Zelda's father bring me out of my internal turmoil. "You should inform Horwell of this. We can delay the ceremony until you find him Link." I nod in determination and hastily make my way back to the academy to inform the professor. Fortunately, he accepted the decision to postpone, and I head off to the one I think is more than likely responsible. 'Groose.' I met Pipit in my search for Groose, and he mentioned he was at the Plaza.

I confront him and his bully companions, make fun of his hair of which his response entertains me to no end, am begrudgingly saved from him by Zelda, get a sword, conquer a cave and, finally, find Pride caged. I release him and we take off, and this long, tiring morning is forgotten instantly as I feel the wind blow around us. This freedom is like nothing else and the feeling is incomparable. My anxieties and frustrations are wiped from my worried mind and I can relax as we soar the skies. But I know that I can't take my time to enjoy this reverie forever and make my way back to the Plaza, where everyone is waiting to finally start this ceremony.

The Ceremony begins and all the competitors of running to the diving platform. We jump and whistle for our partners and take off in pursuit for the prize. It wasn't a hard competition really. Not to be arrogant or anything, but flying is probably the thing I am best at and I'm proud of mine and my partner's skill. Although I felt it was an easy victory, I was still humble about it, but I'm definitely going to rub it in Groose's face later, just because it's fun to see him get all hot-headed, even if it does cause me to come out of it bruised later, it's worth it.

Zelda recklessly jumps from the edge of the island right as I pass under and I catch her in my arms. I look at her, ready to scold her when she says something that makes me hesitate. "I'm glad it was you that won Link." Zelda tells me, and hopefully she doesn't notice my face reddening, which I'm sure it is. "We need to go to the goddess statue now, so that we can finish the ceremony." She smiles at me and I nod bashfully, changing course for the statue.

We land on top of the statue and she takes the smaller statue from the ceremony and positions it while sing a song. "Since I knew that I was going to play the role of the Goddess this year, I prepared a prize for the winner, and I'm glad that you're the one I'm giving it to, Link." She says, making me blush again, 'Why does she do that?' She takes off the cover of her dress that was draped over her shoulders and hands it to me. "It's a sailcloth. It'll slow you down when you're falling." She explains. But then, her demeanor changed and she takes on an almost….flirty tone. "You do know what happens next…..don't you?" She asks and I almost stutter in response. So in order to save my self the embarrassment, I just nod, obviously not confident in my answer. She approaches, and I feel myself tense. 'Is she….no, I'm not ready for this' I think, panicking that she was going to kiss me. But then, she turns me around and nudges me to the edge of the statue….and the pushes me off. I don't even take the time to scream my shock, so I quickly grab my newly acquired sailcloth and opening it, slowly making my way to the circle pattern on the ground. I swear, I'm surprised I haven't died of heart-attack today with what's happened.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I feel the firm ground below my feet and Zelda makes her way to me on Spring. I give her a scowl to show her my disapproval, but she just laughs, and I relent and laugh with her. "Hey, to celebrate, let's fly together." I ignore the thought that this would be a date. 'Don't get your hopes up Link.' I nod and we both take off away from Skyloft.

As we are enjoying the beauty of the sky and the serenity of flying, Zelda flies closer to me. "Ya know, Link. There's something I want to tell you—" She begins, but we are both taken by surprise by a tornado that seemed to appear as if by magic. We struggle to get out of the powerful gales, and I succeed, but Zelda isn't so lucky. 'No…..NO!' Fear grips my heart and I don't hesitate to plunge into the vortex after her. 'I won't lose her…' "ZELDA!" I yell as the powerful winds mysteriously throw me away, but continue to take her down. Below the clouds.

Okay, that's it. Please let me know if it's good. Or bad. Both are good observations. :D


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Some violence

Chapter 2

"ZELDA!" I shoot up, breathing in desperate gulps of air. I swing my head around so that I may gain my bearings and discover that I'm in the bed of my room. I notice how the sunny sky has turned dark, telling me that it was night. After realizing this, I give a gracious sigh of relief. 'It was just a dream…' "Heh." I give a short laugh after realizing my baseless worries. 'It was a dream and Zelda is sleeping in her room.' I'm so relieved that I ignore the fact that I don't remember anything between the time Zelda and I went flying and my falling asleep.

"I see you're awake." The sudden deep voice made me jump a bit, but I recognize the voice as the Headmaster and relax again. 'That dream's made me really jumpy. But why is Headmaster here?' I look to the direction the voice came from and notice Gaepora's silhouette by my bedroom door. As he walks into the moonlight, his features become more visible and I can clearly see his grave expression. His eyes are downcast and sorrowful and his brow is wrinkled with worry. 'I wonder what's wrong.' I think, and I immediately remember the dream and my body becomes rigid. 'No, there's no way….I mean, it was a dream right?'

"Link. I need you to tell me what happened while you and Zelda were out." Gaepora's voice brings me out of my unease and his words were like a wake-up call. I so desperately wanted to deny it, but…Zelda…"she's gone." I didn't realize that I had said that out loud. "What happened?" The Headmaster repeated himself, his worry and frustration more noticeable in his tone now. "We found you, unconscious in one of the pumpkin fields. Zelda wasn't with you and no one's seen her since you two went off together at the end of the ceremony!" His voice growing gradually in volume as he speaks and he no longer attempts to hide his fear.

"SHE'S GONE...she's gone." The room is quiet, the atmosphere so thick with unease that it's suffocating me, making it hard to speak, to breathe. After minutes of silence, I finally manage to get enough air and fortitude to speak. "We were flying. To nowhere in particular. We were enjoying the wind and the sky and everything seemed so fine. The skies so clear and peaceful but…there was nothing there, but then there was! A-a tornado just APPEARED! It got Zelda. Sucked her in! I tried to help, but I was blown away and…" I trail off, panting from the amount of emotional distress. I couldn't say it. "And what, Link?" Headmaster Gaepora asked for me to continue with strange new-found calmness, but he seemed to already know what happened. I continue any way. "She fell through the clouds." I manage to choke out and I notice a slight tremble in my voice. 'I said it…she's really gone.' I could feel my eyes water in realization of the hopeless situation.

The headmaster simply nodded. He was taking it surprisingly well, but who knows how much he's hiding behind his mask of composure. He tells me I should get some rest and allows me to wallow in my grief alone as he retires to his room, probably so that he can do the same in his own room.

I berate myself. 'It was my fault. I should have been able to help her, I should have done something. ANYthing!' I keep blaming myself knowing that Zelda has fallen nothingness or fire, or WHO KNOWS what's down there. But then, I remember something Zelda mentioned yesterday while we were looking for Pride. I didn't pay much mind to it then, but now I'm clutching to it. 'A surface. Zelda mentioned that she read somewhere that there was actually land below the cloud barrier.' It's my only hope, but then it dies as quickly as it came. 'Even if there IS a surface, how am I supposed to get there? Assuming she even survived the fall…okay, bad thing to think.'

While I'm lost in my restless thoughts, a melodic chime reverberates in my room. The sound is so clear it's as if it was sent directly into my head. I get up from my bed, ready to investigate. 'Hmph, I'm probably hearing things.' But as I approach the door, I hear it again. 'It almost sounds like a voice.' I open my door and exit my room, quietly shutting the door so that I don't disturb the others, though that chime was loud enough to wake the whole academy.

A flash of blue and purple light in my peripherals catches my attention and I look towards the stairs. A radiant figure is hovering by the stair case and I rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things in my grief stricken state. The enigma remains, just standing there as if it were waiting for something. Upon closer inspection, I notice it was a woman. She seemed to be dressed in a purple dress with a blue and purple cape covering her ar-'she doesn't have arms!' I take in the disturbing feature and discard it, seeing as the figure was strange enough that having no arms didn't seem too far-fetched.

I approach and, as if that was what she was waiting for, she quickly moves to the top of the stairs. 'Well, I guess she wants me to follow her somewhere. It's suspicious, but she may help me save Zel.' I tell myself this, even though there was no real reason to think this girl had any connection with the current situation. I follow her out of the academy and through Skyloft. 'Remlits. Why do they get so moody at night?' I passively muse as I follow the floating character. She leads me through very precarious routes; I almost fell off the edge of the island at one point!

I discover that she showed me a secret way to the goddess statue. 'Who knew that you could get here this way? Though I doubt anyone is desperate enough to get her at night to take that path.' I approach the girl and this time, she goes into the base of the statue. 'How am I supposed to follow her now?' No sooner had I thought this did an opening appear in the statue. 'Okay, this is weird.' But despite my uncertainty I go through the newly made entrance and down a set of stairs. After descending the stairs, I walk into a large and ancient-looking chamber. In the center of this chamber is a pedestal housing an impressive sword. 'At least, it looks impressive.'

I see the girl hovering above the blade and as I approach, she flies higher and finally speaks. "I am Fi, the spirit of this sword and your companion on your journey." Her voice sounded artificial and mechanical.

"My journey? Wha-" I was about to question her further about what she said, but then a shocked gasp interrupted me. "So it is true. The legend of the Hero and the Surface." I turn to see the headmaster enter the grand chamber and approach us. He looks at Fi and then turns his attention to me. "So that must mean that you're the hero Link. I never knew that this prophecy would come to pass in my life time, but here we are, in the chamber of the Hero's sword.

I look at him in confusion, my expression demanding answers. 'What is going on?' Fi elaborates, speaking of the war between demons and the Goddess Hylia and how Hylia created her so that she could aid the chosen hero on his quest to defeat some great evil. "Whoa, hold on! I don't think I can do something so grea-" I try to voice my protest, but midway, Fi interrupts. "If you go on this quest, there is an 86 percent chance you will encounter Zelda."

Zelda…I could see Zelda. "She's still alive?" I look up at her disbelievingly. "There is a 92 percent chance she survived the fall and is alive on the surface." Fi tells me in her robotic voice. My shock turns into a great smile and I'm so happy I could start crying. 'She's alive.' My chest swells with such emotion and my cold limbs are invigorated with new warmth. With my new-found mirth, I don't hesitate to approach the sword and pull it from its resting place. It slid out effortlessly and I hear the headmaster saying something about this confirming me as the hero.

I look to Fi, eager for her to give me instruction on what to do next. She tells me to point the end of the blade to the sky. I find it strange, but proceed to do so nonetheless. I see the sword begin to glow with light and am taken with its beauty. Fi brings my attention to a floating object and tells me to throw the energy gathered in the blade at that object. I do so, and immediately, it rings and twirls with energy.

"An opening has formed in the cloud barrier master. We can now make it to the surface." Fi informs me and I am having mixed feelings about her calling me master.

"You should get some rest and start you quest tomorrow, Link. Come morning, I suggest you get some supplies from the bazaar." Headmaster Gaepora suggests and I reluctantly agree. 'I'm exhausted. Even though I don't want to wait, I guess I'll be no use if I'm too tired to save her.' I sheath my new sword and Fi vanishes into its hilt. The headmaster and I leave the chamber and return to the academy.

'Finally!' I am soaring through the skies on Pride as we make our way to the opening. I've stocked up and now have a wooden shield and a glass bottle and an adventure pouch that Fledge gave me. I'm also wearing the knew knight uniform, much like Pipit's, but green, and unexpectedly heavy. I feel my insides twist in anticipation, but more than that, nervous anxiety. Fi informs me that my Loft wing can't follow me down there, which doesn't help my discomfort. 'I wonder what it's like down there.' And, before I tire myself out with my overly cautious musings, I jump off of Pride and ready my sail cloth.

I'm falling and what a terrifying feeling it is. It's a strange combination of dread and exhilaration and I'm surprised I don't throw up from the intensity of the feeling. I make it past the opening in the clouds and look down at my destination and…'It's amazing!' I see the sea of trees I thought only existed in my dream and find it astounding. It's much more pleasant without that terrifying beast coming from beneath.

The blanket of greenery quickly comes to greet me and I see it fit to open my sail cloth to make a landing. My feet make contact with the ground and I look up at the scenery as I put away my cloth. 'Wow!' It's unlike anything anyone on Skyloft has ever seen. 'So many trees! And are those tiny Loft wings? I didn't know they could be this small.'

"Master, we should continue." Fi interrupts my observation and I agree. 'I can admire the wildlife later, after I save Zel. What's that up ahead?' I notice a stone structure in the distance and slowly begin to approach it. I'm stopped, however, by…'are those _plants_? They have mouths.' These two strange plants grow from the ground, snarling at me with wide mouths full of viciously sharp teeth and dripping saliva, obviously unfriendly. I step back a bit, but then I steel myself and draw my sword, ready—well, kind of ready—to fight these things.

"These are deku baba, I have no information on them yet maser." Fi unhelpfully informs me. I hesitantly get closer to them, not sure how to attack. 'I've only ever fought the keese and chus in the cave on Skyloft.' I gulp back my doubt and attack one, only to have my sword clang against the hard shell of its head. 'How am I supposed to cut it?' But then, I notice its open mouth. I take the opportunity and make a horizontal slice, cleanly cutting its head in two. This gives me some courage and manage to slay the other with more confidence.

After that encounter, I proceed with caution, on the look-out for more strange creatures that wouldn't mind having me for dinner. I finally make it to the structure and notice it's some sort of temple. But as I near the door, a pattern of what looked like an eye begins to glow. I try to open the door, but to no avail as it seems to be sealed shut. 'So what now?' I give up on the door for now and start exploring the area. I notice a deep circular chasm in the ground that appeared to be man-made, not something you'd see in nature. A spiral path led from top to bottom like a screw, and I could see something dark at the bottom. 'Probably my best bet.' I think, 'even though it looks dangerous.'

I make my way to the bottom of the cavern and as I draw closer to the dark-thing, it starts to resemble something like a thorn protruding from the ground. "Master, you should hit it with a skyward strike." Fi advises me to attack it with what I assume to be that strange energy blast I performed last night. I do as she says and the swirling blackness disappears from the thorn.

"Master, I can sense Zelda's presence in this area. I can track her now." I receive the news happily. Fi instructs me on how to use dowsing to track Zelda and I enthusiastically begin my search. The dowsing led us back up to the sealed door of the temple, but as I approach, the glowing pattern disappears. 'Strange.' I shrug and try again to open this door and, to my surprise, it opened! I enter the ancient structure and look around once inside. It looked so old and obviously abandoned.

During my inspection of the building, I notice someone sitting atop a small stairway at the far end. I near the figure, preparing for a fight, but relax after realizing it was just an old woman. 'So there are other people down her besides me and Zelda?' The old woman moved her head in my direction, so old that her eyes were practically closed. "Ah, you're finally here hero…"


	3. Chapter 3

Phew…so, sorry that I took some time with this (okay, a really long time), I'm kinda nervous about writing Ghirahim, and his and Link's first encounter. It took me a while to decide the direction of it so I hope it's worth the wait.

Warnings: violence

Chapter 3

'Wow, this place is amazing!' I stare in awe as I am greeted by splashes of greens, reds, and blues. I wonder just outside the exit of the ancient temple after talking with that old lady, though it wasn't so much of a talk as me just ignoring her. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, she was just basically repeating to me what Fi and the headmaster already said, so I didn't find it really important to listen to her. And besides, I was just too occupied with thoughts of finding Zelda.

The vegetation of the surface is vibrant and vast and somewhat overwhelming, and even though I was in such a desperate hurry, I just couldn't resist pausing to take it all in. Those green trees, the blue tiny Loft wings, and '…red, grunting…people? What are those? They don't look like animals, but they're obviously not human.' I ponder on what those things are as I slowly walk closer to them to get a better look.

As I get closer, however, I decide to be a bit more cautious. 'These, uh, things don't look very friendly.' I edge closer and closer and notice something even more strange being surrounded by them—I didn't notice it before due to the redness of the creatures' skin being so eye-catching. _Snap_ 'Crap!' I step on a small twig during my approach and almost stop breathing. I tense in expectation for the horrendous-looking things to turn their attention on me and I can even hear my heart thrumming in my ears. This wouldn't be so bad if there were just one or two of them, except there were five! But it seems like the creatures didn't hear me over their own grunts and snorts, so I relax my guard and take in a quivering breath to calm my nerves. 'Get it together Link! You're supposed to be a great hero…'

"Aagh!" A disgruntled sound of either pain or annoyance brings me out of my self-scolding and brings my attention back to the, er, person being harassed. 'Come on, someone needs your help. You're a trained knight, so what are you afraid of!' I steel myself and make a decision. I draw my sword and approach to give an underhanded surprise attack to the closest red-thing to me.

I sneak up to the creature with my blade in hand and prepare to try to knock it away with the broad side of my sword. Sure, these things are gross, ugly creatures and are assaulting a big brown, even weirder creature, but that doesn't make them evil, so I wouldn't kill one. My plans are halted, though, as one of the red-things notices me and alerts the others, squealing of my presence. The one I had planned to attack quickly turns to see me. "Oh crap!" I say aloud as the red-things turn their attention away from the brown-thing to me, their cleavers in hand. I look at their weapons with widened eyes. 'How did I not notice those?!'

"!$# #%!" One of them makes loud unintelligible noises as it lunges for me, obviously ready to split me in two with that cleaver. "WAH!" I barely manage to dodge the attack. I run back a bit to gain some distance and draw my shield and, as I'm backing up some, I notice the hilt of my sword blink and chime. I give it confused glances, but remember Fi was in there, 'and she probably knows what these things are.' I feel the urge to smack the side of my head at my incompetence, but decide to just call on Fi instead to tell me about these creatures. She twirls from the hilt and begins informing me of the situation. "Master, these creatures are called bokoblins. They are servants of the evil you are meant to defeat. You have defeated 0 of this enemy. That is all the information I have on this creature; further analysis needed." And with that, Fi just gave me the key word I needed to hear. 'Enemies…'

Upon learning that these creatures were loyal to who or whatever took Zelda, I bring my sword up, ready to strike the first of these bokoblins to attack. It rushes at me, crying and spitting, swinging its blade in an overhead arch. 'It's time to put your knight training to the test' I tell myself and bring my sword up to block the attack. I'm somewhat stunned as the creature's blade pushes mine back a bit, its strength catching me slightly off guard. I wasn't prepared for how different sparring with an ally and actual battle with an enemy was, but I quickly begin to push back and jump away from it, readying to attack. 'These things must not be very smart…' I noticed it was being protective of its head, making sure its blade guarded it from any overhead attack, which left its body open for me to attack. I take full advantage of its stupidity and made a thrust at its body, pierced its chest with my sword, and removing my blade so that it could fall. Strangely, instead of falling over dead like any other living animal, it disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. 'I…that's weird.' I have no time to think about it anymore though, as two other bokoblins attacked me. 'Well, I guess I should just get rid of these guys and ask Fi about it later.' I turn to face the remaining creatures and strike.

* * *

"Thanks bud! I owe you big time!" The large, uh, potato rock yells in gratitude. I managed to fight off the creatures and am disappointed at the amount of effort it took me. 'Surely I should expect worse.' "My name is Gorko, I'm a Goron! I'm an archeologist and was just observing this fascinating statue when those ugly red monsters started to attack me…You're human! Amazing…" 'What is that? It can talk and looks friendly enough, I guess.' I just stare at the strange being, his enthusiastic speaking and booming voice not even able to snap me out of my curiosity. "Hey bud, are you listening?" I snap out of my musings as I realize he asked me a question. "Oh! Uh, no, sorry, I wasn't listening." I confess and ask, "What are you?" As soon as the question leaves my mouth, I realize how insensitive it must have been and quickly begin to apologize, but before I could talk, he gave a loud hearty laugh and answered my question. "I'm a goron! I guess I'm not surprised that you wouldn't know, I mean, no one's seen a human in thousands of years! Very few know what humans are either, so it makes sense for it to be the same for your race. I've studied your species, but unfortunately, your history just ends abruptly after your kind was supposedly sent to the sky! But I don't know how much of that is true. I mean, having a number of people being sent into the sky doesn't sound like a sensible thing. But wouldn't it be simply amazing if it were true?! Are you from the sky bud?!" His endless eagerness and questions were a bit overwhelming, making me hesitate in my answer. He started speaking again, though, before I could answer any of his questions, and he seems to have a short attention span as he started walking away from me and towards a bird statue, similar to the ones in Skyloft.

As he made his way towards the statue, he began to talk about his studies and the culture of humans, but I just ignored him. 'Ugh, history...' I follow after him and approach the statue myself, but as I got close to it, it began to glow, as if reacting to me just being near it. "WOW! It reacted to you, bud! I haven't been studying these things for long, and although I knew they were hypothetically a way to the sky, I didn't think it would do this! What's your name by the way?" It took me a moment or two to realize he asked for my name because of the energetic way he spoke and how he seemed to be skipping and hopping in the conversation. I collect myself and answer his question. "Oh, um, my name is Link." He looks at me and looked somewhat confused, as if he was thinking about what I just said, but then smiled in a big friendly manner. "Link huh?! You're pretty quiet bud, I almost couldn't hear you!" I flush in embarrassment. People have often told me I don't speak loud enough if they ever hear me speak at all. But it's only with people I'm not close to. With Zelda, I think that I'm very loud and expressive—oh, and with Groose, but that's only because I have a masochistic tendency to make fun of him and his hair and I try to make sure he hears me loud and clear. I tilt my gaze to the ground and quietly apologize, but when I look up, I see that Gorko isn't even paying attention and started drooling over the statue again.

"So fascinating! Hey bud, you wanna hear about my research on humans?" I want to say no, because I'm not a big fan of history, but still, I am interested in what he found out about our culture, so I nod and begin listening. He tells me about his findings, and it's pretty accurate, aside from a few exaggeration here and there. I was able to be attentive due to his seemingly endless amount of passion about the subject, and his eagerness kind of inspired me to like history. Gorko continued to talk about random stuff after the history lesson, but one thing in particular made me tense. "Today's been strange though, bud. Not only those weird red pests, but you're the second human I've ran into today!" I was suddenly reminded of my quest, 'How could I have forgotten for even a second about Zelda?!' But rather than stick around and beat myself up for it, I quickly try to get information from Gorko. "Where?! What direction was she going?!" The Goron looked at me with surprise and seemed as if he were knocked backwards, obviously not expecting my outburst.

"She went into the Faron Woods right along that path, bud. A friend of yours?" He replied with a point to her direction, but I didn't hang around long enough to answer his question. I know it may have been rude, but the second he showed me the way, I hurried in that direction, vaguely noting the shouts of concern and puzzlement from my new acquaintance.

After following the path that Gorko showed me for a few minutes, I was greeted with the sight of a thick and colorful plant life. It was breath-taking, but I didn't stop to appreciate the view. 'Maybe after I save Zelda, we can come here and enjoy it alone sometime.' I am briefly embarrassed by the thought, but soothed by it as well, since I WILL save her.

As I continued my pursuit for Zelda, my eyes took in the color red for the second time that day. 'Ugh, more of these things.' I inwardly groan. They were somewhat difficult to defeat, but only so much so to be an annoyance rather than an immediate threat. I was prepared to ignore them when I heard squeaks of distress and fright. I take another look at what the bokoblins were doing and noticed they were surrounding some small creature. 'Cute….Gah! Curse my need to help people!' I didn't like seeing people in trouble—regardless of race it seems, if my need to help Gorko was anything to go by—but I also didn't like being distracted from the task at hand. But, being compelled by its fearful cries, I begrudgingly make my way to rescue it. Although there were only two of them this time, I felt like it was much easier to fight them. 'I'm slowly getting used to this.' The enemies disappeared once again in a purple smoke and was reminded of the question I had for Fi. Seeing this as a good time to ask, I summon Fi and question her about the strange way the bokoblins die. "These creatures are the creation of evil, formed by dark magic. Once they are defeated, the magic is released as a purple vapor." 'Huh, that's actually pretty interesting. No one except for the fortuneteller on Skyloft can perform magic, and his is only foreseeing events in the immediate future.' I dismiss Fi back to my hilt and am suddenly reminded of why I was sidetracked by the sound of distress next to me. I look down to see a shivering patch of long grass that seemed to be coming from the back of the small creature I rescued.

"Kwi?" It looked up to see surprisingly no red monsters tormenting it. It was relieved for a brief moment until it noticed me, at which it immediately got up and ran away. I was about to dismiss it, since I did what I set out to do, and it seemed uninjured. Fi changed my mind, though, when she materialized and informed me that the creature I just saved was emitting energy similar to Zelda's. That caught my interest and promptly began my chase for it, except, I wasn't paying attention to where it was going. "Agh, where did it go?!" I growl my frustration to the sky. 'I was THIS close, but I let my chances slip!' As I berate myself for my stupidity, Fi floated closer to me. "Master, I believe there is a 92% chance that the aura we've been tracking is that which that being was emitting. You may be able to find it if you continue using dowsing." This news was such a relief. Happy that I didn't cause my hope of finding Zel run away, I eagerly began dowsing for her energy again, hoping to find the creature. I was saddened that the energy I was following wasn't actually Zelda, but if that small animal can lead me to her, then that's good enough.

I follow the energy to an even more beautiful part of this place, and upon inspection, I notice the creature hiding behind an overly large mushroom. I approach it, but as I neared, it would just walk around the fungus in order to avoid me. I was becoming irritated when I came up with a mischievous way of drawing it out. I draw my blade and strike the giant mushroom. The sudden movement from the mushroom made the animal squeak in fright and run to another one not far from this one. I smile in amusement at this, entertained by its timidity, also glad that my idea worked in drawing it out. 'Now all I have to do is keep slashing mushrooms until it runs out of hiding places.'

I do this until it runs behind a tree. I approach and it looked cornered with nowhere else to run. I smile tenderly, quickly growing a soft spot for the little thing. "Hey." I say to it gently. It peeks up at me, shivering as it raises its eyes so that it can see what is talking to it. It gradually stops quivering, however, when it realized I wasn't a threat. "Kwee? You're not one of those red things!" Too surprised that it can talk to really be offended for being confused for one of those things, I just look at it with amazement. "You seem nice, kwu-eep, I'm Machi of the Kikwee. You look like that other thing I saw today, it was very nice." I am broken from my stunned silence by the mentioning of this creature that is more-than-likely Zelda. "You've seen her?" At that, Fi appears before, which greatly spooks my new friend, making me chuckle endearingly at it. "There is a very high chance that the other creature the kikwee mentioned is Zelda. There is an 87% chance that he would know where she is." I nod to Fi somewhat listlessly. I appreciate Fi's input, but the numbers she gives me, although a little comforting, is off-putting. It's nice to know my chances, but it would be nicer if I wasn't encouraged in such a robotic, unfeeling way.

Fi vanishes again into the sword and, after seeing that the scary floating figure disappeared, Machi speaks to me again. "You have strange friends, sir. You should warn me next time something so scary comes out." Machi spoke with meekness, but slowly seemed to be comfortable with me, since his demeanor didn't seem so small. "So was that other thing your friend? If you want to know where she is, then you should talk to the elder. He would know where your friend went, he knows a lot about what happens in the forest."

'Haaaah…' I sigh inwardly. 'I was hoping that this little guy would know where Zelda was, but I guess not.' "Thanks Machi. Oh! I'm Link and yes, that was my friend. Can you tell me where the elder is?" I was able to talk to the kikwee with a relatively loud voice, its small stature and timid disposition making me feel less stiff and awkward. 'I'm really warming up to him…'

"The elder is this way! I can take you to him." I smile as I watch him walk off, beckoning me to follow. 'Hold on Zel, I'm getting to you bit by bit.'

I begin to follow Machi as he takes me to the elder, but as we traverse the, 'I think Machi said this is called a "forest",' I start to have this chill run through me. I find it strange at first, but then dismiss it due to the fact that I'm on the surface now and not so close to the sun.

We make it to a clearing where a large…uh, not so inconspicuous kikwee was lying on the ground, obviously thinking it was camouflaged. I get closer to it and as I near, it rises its massive body and speaks to me in a deep, aged voice. "You are very clever for seeing through my disguise. I am the elder of the kikwee, do you have need of me human?" Not surprised at all that he was the elder, I start to tell him of my plight, but he interrupts me for I could open my mouth. "Ah, you must be a friend of the female human who came here. She seemed to be in a lot of trouble, seeing as she was being chased by red monsters."

My eyes widened and my hands started to form a cold sweat. 'Oh no! Those things! Why are they after her?!' I rush closer to the elder and yell for an answer. "WHERE?! Where did she go, Please tell me!" I'm panting, obviously not used to raising my voice. The elder looked at me with wide, surprised eyes and hesitated before speaking. "She went to Skyview, it's an old temple in the forest."

"Where is it?" I'm desperate to get to Zelda and the next words the elder speak almost send me into a rage. "Well, you see…those creatures also attacked my people. They scared my little kikwee and ran them off. I don't know if they're safe or not." I could see where this was going and retorted in impatience. "Why can't you just check on them yourself?! I need to find Zelda. Who knows if she's a-all right!" My voice trembled in anxiety, but I didn't care, I needed to know where she was and I can't afford to get sidetracked so much. The elder had an obvious look of shame fall over his figure and his voice held the same sentiment in his reply. "My kikwee are small and use that to their advantage, knowing that anything bigger than them are less likely to be able to follow. I am too big to be able to find them, but you could do it. Young Machi here, even if he did find his friends, he's just too weak to help them if they were in danger."

Although I'm still fuming, I do understand his plight. I take a few breaths, trying to calm myself and reasoned the sooner I find them, the sooner I can get information about this Skyview temple. "Fine. But you promise that once I find them, you'll tell me how to get to Skyview?" The elder had a waterfall of relief show on his face, though he still expressed embarrassment from his inability to find his own people. "Yes, yes of course young one. Please hurry, I fear for them. They are like children to me."

I soften up a bit. I just can't stay mad at someone who's just as desperate as me, especially since he has to rely on someone else. "Fi." I call for my partner, hoping that my idea works. She appeared and inquired about what it was I needed. "Can I dowse for the missing kikwee?" She answers thankfully with a yes. 'This will be easier now that I know I can track their energy.' I nod my head in determination and set off to search for the elder's children.

* * *

'Wow, the elder was right, those guys hid in either small or really high places that was pretty tricky to get to.' I rush to the elder, eager to get information from him after finally having found the last kikwee.

"Kweeee, oh thank you young man, thank you! Here, this will help you get to the temple. Use it to knock loose vines down. They'll help you get to places you couldn't before." The elder presents a rather well-made slingshot to me. I accept the gift as he gives me directions to the temple, which it seems I did indeed need the slingshot to get to. I say my good-byes to the elder and my friend Machi who I hope to see again after I finally save Zelda.

'Man, I'm exhausted.' I spent a lot of energy finding those kikwee and it's taken much out of me, but I remember that Zelda is in trouble and get a burst of energy and sprint to the temple. I only take a few breaks to regain my breath, but they are short and far between, and I'm so excited to see Zelda that I almost don't notice that cold feeling I had before creep over me again. It was strange since there was no wind, but again, it could just be that it's generally colder down here. I almost dismissed it again, but as I start my way to the temple, I faintly hear a snapping noise. I turn around expecting someone to have stepped on a twig or something while following me, but I see nothing. 'Maybe I'm too tired…'

I shake my paranoia off and again, continue my journey. It wasn't long before I was in front of another temple that looked just as ancient as the last one with that old lady. 'I never got her name…' I approach the entrance, but realize that it's locked. 'Now how do I get in? Zelda must be in here.' I inspect the area, looking left, right, down, u-'Aha!' I see the strange object hanging from the roof of the temple's entrance. It seemed suspicious, but it was too far up for me to see what it does.

'I wonder what will happen if I hit it?' I think lazily, and after thinking this, I bring out my newly acquired sling shot and fire at the strange object. With a resounding ding from the impact, the object lit up and expanded into many floating diamond-like shards. I hear something behind me and, upon turning around, see that the entrance was opening. 'Yes!' I pat myself on the back and enter the temple with caution. I may be desperate to find Zelda, but I'm not going to rush in recklessly.

'This place is infested!' I encounter monster after monster. A few bokoblins and other things called Skulltula, hydras, and more surreal things. At first, I was having a hard time beating them all, but got better as time went on. I even found a new item!

'I wonder how they got in, though. The entrance was locked when I got here…' I didn't linger on those thoughts, though, when I found a chest that had a strange golden thing inside. 'Huh, I did just pass a huge door with a weird key hole….maybe this is the key?' I return to the door and try to get the item inside and, lo and behold, it was in fact the key. 'YES! This door looks important enough, I bet Zelda's inside!' And on that note, I push the huge, heavy doors open with some difficulty. 'Hehe, man I'm tired.' I don't care about my exhaustion as I anticipate my reunion with Zel.

I enter through the doors into a large circular room and before I even notice anything wrong, that cold feeling came over me again. This time though, it was so strong and sinister that I just couldn't ignore it again. I look around the room and see what I suspect to be the cause of that horrible feeling. A person was holding a sword, looking as if he were going to attack the door at the opposite end of the room. He was pretty far away, but I could tell he was really tall and that paired with this feeling did not give me a good impression of the man…at least I think he was a man.

I swallowed my nervousness and was about to ask him if he'd seen Zelda, even though I feel like running from the room right now. But as I step forward to talk to him, he…disintegrated?... his weapon and spoke. "Hmph, well look who it is." He turns around and I see what a strange guy he is. 'Is that make-up? Only the girls on Skyloft wear that…' He continues talking and brings me out of my inspection of his strange and awkwardly revealing attire. "I thought that tornado I stirred up would have torn you a part, but here you are." My mouth opens in surprise. 'This, this man was the one who…'

He seemed to be expressing great anger, theatrically shouting how outraged he was, but I was so full of rage myself that I was ignoring what he was saying. I draw my sword, getting ready to attack the person who tried to take my best friend from me. As I do this, he chuckles in palpable conceit at my action. "Hah! You draw your sword? Oh boy, you have no idea who you're dealing with!" As he says this, he snaps his finger and disappears right before my eyes in an array of diamonds. My eyes widen, not only in surprise at his vanishing act, but also in the familiarity in that snapping noise. 'The cold feeling, that sound…how long has he been following me?'

I begin to feel greatly disturbed, and I desperately search the room to find him. 'He could have killed me at any time, where is h-' My thoughts are interrupted by his sudden proximity. He was at my back, both hands on each shoulder, his mouth next to my ear. The closeness was uncomfortable. "It hardly would be fair for me to take my anger out on you, so I promise up front not to kill you." He said this in a bone-chillingly calm way, quiet and whispered right into my ear. He then flicked his tongue, his really _long_ tongue, out in a perverted manner. This prompted me to distance myself from the very disturbing man. I free myself and turn to face him, ready for battle. He smiles in a contemptuous way and makes his red mantle vanish in the same way he and his sword had earlier. Upon the removing of his mantle and more revealing appearance, he showed himself off like some sort of great spectacle and approached me with his hand out-stretched.

He got closer and closer, his aura overwhelming me. I obviously wasn't ready to fight this guy. He was too close now and he grabbed the blade of my sword, jerking it from my hands with merely his thumb and first two fingers. "What an impressive blade. But it'll do you no good if you let it get taken so easily Sky child." I would have laughed at the very uncreative nick name if it wasn't for the fact that I was no longer armed. 'Crap! How could I have let Fi get taken so easily?!' I have no time to scold myself though as the man Ghido, Ghina…whatever his name was—I vaguely remember him mentioning it sometime during his rant—threw the sword at me, almost impaling me with it. Luckily, I dodged out of the way in time for it to only nick me.

"Hmmhmhmhm…Come on Sky Child, you're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me." What's-his-name chuckled at me in the most condescending manner. He was obviously toying with me, and I would have been insulted at that if I didn't think to use his over confidence to my advantage. I rush to my sword as I notice him send some kind of dagger in my direction. I somersault so that I can dodge and pick up Fi in the same movement, and twirl to face him. 'Okay, stay alert Link.'

He smiles at me as if he were amused, as if this was simply a game to him. 'He just thinks I'm some insignificant pest' I think angrily. I gather my determination, hating being seen as weak to someone like him, and in a burst of courage, I charge at him. He seems surprised for only a second, and then amused again. I attack, but he effortlessly grabs my blade again. I pull it free before he could take it from me again. I repeat this two or three times, and each time he manages to catch my sword. He even managed to take it from me again at some point, but I got it back. He was continuously underestimating me and it was grating on my nerves. 'I need to change tactics…'

I went to attack him in a seemingly similar way to before, but this time I switched the angle of my swing at the last minute, catching him off guard. My attack left a large, though shallow, cut on his left side. He stumbled back, his shock showing clearly on his face, which made me smirk in victory. I was expecting him to get angry seeing as his ego seemed to take a bit of a blow, but to my disbelief, he just straightened up and began to approach me again, this time with a bit more seriousness. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. Yeah, he's starting to take me more seriously, but that means this will probably be harder.

I attack him again and again with the same tactic, and somehow, I manage to land each attack successfully. He bent over and I thought for sure this was it. He was probably going to get really mad that the child he underestimated is getting the upper hand on him. But again, I'm surprised, and even more so when he looks up at me and licks his lips, like he's enjoying himself even more than before when he was just toying with me. He snapped his fingers and summoned the blade he previously was trying to use to break through the door and lunged towards me.

I wasn't prepared and would have had my head taken off if it weren't for my quick reflexes. 'Now I've done it, he's really out for blood now…' Although I managed to bring my sword up in time to block his attack, the force of it brought it down enough for the blade to cut my left shoulder. He kept putting more force into the sword and was slowly digging it deeper into my wound, but I eventually managed to push him back and put some distance between us.

The fight went on, and I was at my physical limit. I thought I was going to collapse at any second. "What's wrong Sky Child? You're not getting tired now are you? You've only just started to get good enough to be even a little bit entertaining. Don't disappoint me now." I just wanted to punch that smug look off his stupid face! 'Agh, he's so egotistical!' I started to lose hope that I was going to win, but then the man's expression changed. "Hmm, how unfortunate. You put up a good fight for such a soft boy, but it seems I've had too much fun. Her _greatness_' presence has faded from this area and it seems she saw it unfit to wait for me to finish my affairs before leaving. How uncivil of her, don't you think?" He spoke with an underlying venom in his voice at the mention of who I assume to be Zelda. "I don't have any more time to play with you child, so I'll leave you here. But if you interfere with me again, I will personally guarantee you won't be coming out of it alive!" His voice was low and menacing and it made me shiver with dread in knowing that he probably wasn't lying. With that, he left the room in a dramatic flair and the snap of his fingers, leaving me alone and almost unconscious from my fatigue and injuries.

With the last of my energy, I make my way to the door that the man was trying to break through. I was suspecting it would be locked, but it unexpectantly wasn't. I opened the door and was greeted with a beautiful spring and no Zelda. 'I just missed her!' I was angry with myself and at that stranger. 'If it wasn't for him, I would be with Zelda now and we'd be back home.' I see something in the middle of the spring similar to what was in chamber where my sword was. I struck it with a skyward strike and it twirled with energy. Fi appeared and informed me that there was a message she can translate. She performed a stunning dance that seemed contradictory to her personality as she translated the message. It was just more stuff about my destiny and I was honestly becoming tired of the repeated fate I supposedly have. After she finished her translation, a stone floated to me. It looked like a stone map, similar to the one inside the sword chamber that led me to this forest.

'Well, I guess this is where I need to go next.' I quickly leave the temple and make my way to a bird statue that I remember Gorko mentioning could get me back to the sky.

* * *

Man, I know it's been a while, so I made it longer to make it up to you guys. Again, if there is anything good or bad about it, don't hesitate to tell me :D


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